Summary:

These just-add-water packets compete with the big guys in convenience and are both versatile and affordable with pleasant flavors. However, our tasting team voted "more salt!" on all of the creamy varieties and like so many packaged foods, the ingredients are best for an occasional indulgence. Nonetheless, these are fantastic for adding ease to the holidays and even gifting to others who aren't sure how to handle dairy-free meal prep.

Filling a void left forgotten until the cool weather sets in, Vivian’s Live Again is a purely gluten-free and dairy-free company with an array of creamy soup and sauce mixes.

The convenient packets (available in single-meal or bulk packages) house instant, powdered blends with simple “just add water” instructions. Both the price and the ease are hard to resist, though this does come with a few ingredients that may not be suitable for some (i.e. soy and additives). Even so, we were definitely excited to find them for special occasions.

Tasting Notes for Vivian’s Live Again

Since Vivian’s Live Again have strong family appeal, I passed this review over to Sarah, for her family of six (one with a milk allergy) to put to the test.

With the holidays fast approaching, Sarah picked this Vivian’s Live Again mix to test first. “I like the herb-iness of it, and our family thought it was pretty good, but the kids said they liked my homemade cream of soup mix better. (So nice for their mother’s ego!). We all thought it could use a little more salt. Especially if you are using it to replace canned cream of mushroom soup (which is quite salty) in a recipe. When I used it to make the green bean casserole (pictured above), the soy sauce in the recipe helped up the salt to just barely enough.”

“It was easy, and fared okay, but the kids didn’t like it as much as the dairy-free Alfredo I make at home. And those of us used to dairy Alfredo could tell a difference. It reminded me of the taste of prepackaged four cheese sauce that might come with macaroni and cheese. This is not a criticism! It has the saltiness of cheese sauces that so many dairy-free mixes miss. I bet I could serve it as macaroni and cheese to dairy eaters and fool them. It’s also very easy to make and would be handy to have for a quick meal or easy to pack for a trip.”

Though Sarah will probably stick with her recipes at home, she said, “Vivian’s Live Again mixes are a quick, shelf stable, portable convenience with nice herb flavors that are easy to recommend to family members to use in their holiday recipes so we can all enjoy.” In fact, you can gift yourself or a loved one a Vivian’s Live Again Holiday Meal Kit to ease everyone into a dairy-free Thanksgiving or Christmas.

The Facts on Vivian’s Live Again Soup and Sauce Mixes

Certifications: We didn’t notice any certifications on the Vivian’s Live Again Soup and Sauce Mixes.

Dietary Notes: By ingredients, Vivian’s Live Again Soup and Sauce Mixes are dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, and peanut-free. Select varieties appear to be vegan / plant-based and vegetarian. Nonetheless, verify on the label and check with the company on their manufacturing processes for all varieties if potential allergen cross-contamination is an issue for you. Processes, ingredients, and labeling are subject to change at any time for any company / product.